Arsenal maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a narrow win over Everton on Sunday. Leandro Trossard scored the only goal of the game in the second half as Sean Dyche’s Toffees remain winless five matches into the campaign.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta threw a massive surprise before kick-off with his team selection. Summer signing David Raya came in for his debut in place of Aaron Ramsdale in goal.
Kai Havertz was also dropped as Fabio Vieira made his first start of the season. The visitors were frustrated for the first hour of the match as they struggled to test Jordan Pickford in the Everton goal.
But Trossard finally came up with the moment of quality with a fine left-footed finish with 20 minutes of the game remaining. Express Sport looks at three things we learned from the game on Merseyside.
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Ruthless Arteta
Many questioned what the arrival of Raya in the summer would mean for the future of Ramsdale. Some pondered that the Spaniard would be the designated goalkeeper for the Gunners’ return to the Champions League and feature mainly in cup competitions.
However, Arteta has already seen fit to play his compatriot in the Premier League. Ramsdale had started 52 top-flight games in a row for Arsenal and was rewarded with a new contract earlier this year.
The England star was named in the PFA Team of the Year for last season. But doubts must now be raised over whether he is no longer Arteta’s No 1.
Raya is clearly more comfortable with the ball at his feet and his distribution is better than Ramsdale’s. But Ramsdale has rarely let Arteta down since he joined over two years ago.
Arteta was ruthless to replace Bernd Leno with Ramsdale on that occasion. He could be doing the same now with Raya.
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Crucial blow
Arsenal lost Gabriel Martinelli midway through the first half with what appeared to be a hamstring injury. The Brazilian had just had a goal ruled out by VAR for an offside in the build-up.
He was replaced by Trossard, who is a different type of winger to Martinelli. Trossard wants to come for the ball a lot more than Martinelli, who prefers to run in behind, so it affects how Arsenal attack.
The injury was severe enough for him to come off so surely makes him a major doubt for Wednesday’s Champions League opener against PSV Eindhoven. Arsenal also host Tottenham in the first north London derby of the season next Sunday.
Martinelli’s absence for any period of time could be a pivotal blow for Arteta in the coming weeks. The 22-year-old has become so crucial to how Arsenal play and will be desperate to showcase his talent on the European stage.
New corner tactic
Arsenal appeared to have a new corner tactic derived by set-piece coach Nicolas Jover. Gary Neville repeatedly pointed it out during his co-commentary for Sky Sports.
Martin Odegaard and Fabio Vieira were often on corner duty and would take plenty of time before playing it short. Neville suggested the Gunners players were on the line of being booked by referee Simon Hooper for time wasting.
Arsenal had nine corners in total and it finally paid off. The ball broke out of the box from one of the set-pieces and when it returned, Trossard was on hand to finish expertly.
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